Ysios Capital achieves Certification under the Diversity VC Standard

Ysios Capital is the first specialized venture capital firm in life sciences globally and the first Spanish firm to achieve the Diversity VC Standard, an assessment and certification process that sets a benchmark for best practice in Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in venture capital.

Ysios Capital, a leading European venture capital firm specialized in the biotechnology sector, announces today that it has been successfully certified under the Diversity VC Standard, a certification that sets a benchmark for best practice in Diversity and Inclusion.

With its diverse management team, Ysios has been a leader in diversity since its foundation in 2008. Ysios’ founding team was gender balanced and currently 60% of the team are women. By this certification, Ysios signals its commitment to promote Diversity and Inclusion across the biotech industry. A recent study by McKinsey (Diversity wins: How inclusion matters, May, 2020) in which 1,000 companies were analyzed, showed that companies more gender and/or ethnic and cultural diverse were more likely to have above-average profitability. According to a study performed by BCG and MassChallenge in 2018, companies with a woman on the founding team delivered twice as much revenue per dollar invested than those run solely by men.

To achieve Level 1 Certification, venture capital firms must have Diversity and Inclusion programs and policies in place. Dealflow metrics must be tracked and practices implemented to reduce bias in sourcing and in the investment process.

According to Pitchbook, only 10% of European VCs have gender-mixed management teams. A recent study in Spain has shown that only 12% of the general partners in Spanish VC firms are women and 33% of the VCs in Spain have no women among their partnership (Diversity VC Iberia report).

Paula Olazabal, Partner at Ysios and D&I officer said “At Ysios we strive to attract the best talent and we foster an inclusive culture. Diversity is in our genes: 4 of 7 partners are women, and cultural diversity has always been at our core, as our team includes 6 different nationalities.” And added “Our team is actively broadening its network to reach out to more diverse candidates for our firm and our portfolio companies. Through our work during the last years, our portfolio companies already have more diverse board members than industry average and we are committed to continue increasing the number of diverse board members. In our opinion, Diversity VC is a key initiative to help increase diversity in the sector.”

Joël Jean-Mairet, Founding Partner at Ysios stated “As a venture capital firm, we are building the next generation of cutting-edge companies. We strongly believe that more diverse teams will deliver better results, have reduced biases in decision making, and ultimately have a higher impact on patients and society.

In connection with this certification, Ysios Capital has joined the Future VC initiative, an internship and development program to increase interest of talented individuals from all backgrounds.

About Ysios Capital

Ysios Capital is a leading Spanish venture capital firm that provides private equity financing to early- and mid-stage, highly innovative life science companies bringing life-changing treatments to patients, with a focus on indications with high unmet need. Our diverse international team in San Sebastián and Barcelona is driven by science, with the ambition to transform capital into medical breakthroughs. Ysios Capital was founded in 2008 and has over €400 million in assets under management through its three funds. For more information, please visit www.ysioscapital.com

About Diversity VC

The Diversity VC Standard is an assessment and certification process that sets a benchmark for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in venture capital and sends a signal that a firm follows best D&I practices to the rest of the ecosystem. The Diversity VC Standard was launched in 2020 pioneered by 15 leading funds across Europe and Canada to provide VCs with the tools and recommended practices they need to open their networks and make funding available to underrepresented founders, as well as the resources needed to cultivate an environment where founders and colleagues from all backgrounds feel they belong in the industry and the ecosystem. For more information, please visit www.diversity.vc

About Future VC

Future VC is an internship and development program which supports access to the Venture Capital industry.

As well as paid placements at some of the top funds in Europe and the US, participants attend a series of unique masterclasses given by industry leaders that cover key knowledge areas required in VC.

Future VC also provides targeted personal development sessions equipping the interns with soft skills that will help them thrive in any professional role, VC or otherwise. Recruiting preparation with interview practice, networking sessions, presenting, and advice from VC executive search specialists is provided to help them find those roles.

Between the placements, masterclasses, personal development sessions, and preparation for job hunting Future VC aims to equip their interns with a complete theoretical and practical understanding of what a career in VC involves and the skills needed to get started. For more information, please visit www.futurevc.com